U.S. doctors plan to treat cancer patients using CRISPR

DNA GPS

U.S. doctors plan to treat cancer patients using CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeat). The best way to describe what some doctors are already doing in China is to say they are using DNA GPS to alter specific genes.

Clinical Trials

University of Pennsylvania doctor said, in January 2018, they were in the final stages of preparing for trials. The doctors will use CRISPR in ongoing clinical trials, to modify human immune cells to become cancer killers in 18 patients. The plan is outlined in this journal entry in the U.S. Library of Medicine’s database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies found at clinicaltrials.gov.

wired.com

The online magazine wired.com refers to this study and the gene altering as “DNA hacking”. Wired’s reporter Megan Molteni says that “Every industry is throwing mad money at Crispr.” Molteni says pharma, agriculture, energy, materials manufacturing, you name it all want in. Even the weed guys want in” she says in her April 27 2018 piece.

60 Minutes

60 Minutes has a piece which aired on April 28, 2018 introducing America to the scientist, Feng Zhang, who first used the human genome in this way. You can see their piece here.